NEW YORK, NY -- The Brooklyn Bridge Park that sits between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges will have a reason to celebrate come mid-September. That’s because an historic carousel that was painstakingly restored for more than 25 years will be donated to the park, complete with acrylic housing from Reynolds Polymer Technology, Inc. (RPT) to preserve the carousel and keep out foul weather.

Artist Jane Walentas and her husband David purchased the 1922 carousel – known as PTC #61 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company – in 1984 from Idora Park amusement park in Youngstown, Ohio that had just been shuttered after a devastating fire. While firefighters were able to save the carousel, decades of poor painting, disrepair, and scorch marks from the fire faced Walentas throughout the refurbishment. While her intention all along was to donate it to Empire Fulton Ferry State Park (now Brooklyn Bridge Park), numerous obstacles at nearly every step of the way bogged down the restoration process.

Walentas spent the next 25 years researching the carousel’s history, developing paint formulations specific to the era it was built, repairing various parts of the horses, and poring over every minute detail of the carousel to slowly restore it to its original condition and breathe new life into it.

 After spending copious amounts of time, energy, and funding to restore the carousel, installing it outside exposed to the elements was out of the question. Clearly, it needed protection from the weather once installed in its new home in the park, but the desired enclosure couldn’t mask the beauty of the carousel.

“The Architect, Jean Nouvel, a Pritzker Prize winner, was adamant about using acrylic,” explained Walentas. “We would have been ok with a glass structure, but Jean was insistent that we use acrylic. He wanted vast expanses without structural interruption.”

These “vast expanses” of unimpeded views were realized in R-Cast acrylic panels engineered and custom manufactured to nearly 25 feet tall and an average of three feet wide set into accordion-fold doors on the north and south sides of the structure, and several wall panels reaching more than 27 feet tall and nearly 10 feet wide on the east and west faces. The accordion-fold doors allow for pedestrian traffic flow around the carousel, as well as fresh air when the weather is nice.

“The R-Cast acrylic enclosure, on the whole, functions in two main ways:  to protect the carousel from the elements year round, and to let riders inside see out, and those outside look in at the carousel,” said Roger R. Reynolds, III, CEO of RPT. “The structural strength of our acrylic allows for larger views that don’t get marred by too many steel supports for the panels.”

With the carousel totally finished, Walentas is now focusing on developing signage, uniforms, special seatbelts (mandatory on carousels in New York City), and a host of other items ahead of the grand opening next month.

The 50 foot diameter carousel – now called “Jane’s Carousel” – features 48 fully restored horses and two chariots that were stripped down to their original, intricately painted patterns and carefully repainted in faithful detail. “My hope is for every child who lives in Brooklyn, as well as those who cross the river, or visit from around the globe, to have the opportunity to experience this 1922 Carousel, in this beautiful park, in this amazing building, set on the river with this extraordinary view,” stated Walentas. “Imagine riding your favorite horse, with the Brooklyn Bridge towering overhead, as tug boats pass by. It doesn't get much better!”

The grand opening ceremony is planned for mid-September.

Source: Reynolds Polymer Technology, Inc.